Agnipurana 117

English (machine translation) 117

Language: English

117.3 — 3 parts
117.11 — 1 part
117.12 — 3 parts
117.13 — 1 part
117.18 — 1 part
117.19 — 3 parts
117.29 — 4 parts
117.39 — 3 parts
117.49 — 8 parts
117.57 — 10 parts
117.64 — 3 parts

117.1

Agni said:
As Kātyāyanī spoke to the sages, so will I declare the ancestral rite: / One should perform the ancestral rite at Gayā and other places, especially on the transition of the sun and other [astronomical occasions],

117.2

or in due season, or in the waning fortnight, particularly after the fourth lunar day, / and having properly assembled on the asterism of the [ancestor's] foot; and on the preceding day one should invite

117.3

renunciants, or virtuous householders, twice-born students who have taken the ceremonial bath, learned brāhmaṇas, / blameless men dedicated to their duties, disciplined and endowed with correct conduct.

117.3.p1

117.3.p2

1. "sampādya paramarkṣe ca" thus in manuscript cha.

117.3.p3

2. "ācārasaṃskṛtān" thus in manuscripts ga and ja.

117.4

One should avoid those with white leprosy, leprosy, and the like, nor should one accept invited [guests]; / [one should seat] those who have bathed, are pure, self-controlled, facing east in the rites for gods.

117.5

He should seat three for the ancestors and others, or one in each of the two [rites]; / he should also do likewise for maternal grandfathers and others, even with [mere] vegetables.

117.6

On that day he should be celibate, free from anger, unhurried, gentle, / truthful, attentive, not traveling, abstaining from Vedic recitation, and silent.

117.7

And he should consult all those foremost in the row concerning the question and the seating; / having spread doubled darbha-grass, he should perform [the rites] for the ancestors, beginning with the gods.

117.8

He should ask, 'I shall invite the All-gods,' and [the reply is], 'Invite them'; / having invited them with 'viśve devāsaḥ' and scattered barley, he should recite:

117.9

'viśve devāḥ śṛṇutemaṃ'. Then [saying], 'I shall invite the ancestors,' / he should ask; when it is said, 'Invite them,' he should invoke them with 'uśantas tvā'.

117.10

Having scattered sesame seeds, he should recite 'āyāntu' and so forth for the ancestors; / or he should sprinkle on the ring-finger [kuśa ring] with the triplet 'śanno devīr abhiṣṭaye'.

117.11

Having offered barley saying 'You are barley', [he offers] sesame seeds everywhere for the ancestors: / 'You are sesame, sacred to Soma, created by the gods as a cow-sacrifice;

117.11.p1

united by the ancients with water, gratify with the funeral oblation our ancestors [and] the worlds, svadhā!'—thus.

117.11_2

[Saying] 'śrīś ca te', he should offer a flower in a golden or silver vessel,

117.12

or in one of udumbara wood, rhinoceros horn, or leaves, from left to right; / he should perform [the rites] for the gods with the sacred thread on the left, but for the ancestors on the right.

117.12.p1

[Footnote]

117.12.p2

1. "atvarito 'tyṛjuḥ" thus in manuscript ṅa.

117.12.p3

2. "satye prapanno 'nadhvanyo hyasvādhyāyaśca" thus in manuscripts kha and gha.

117.13

For each [ancestor], into their hands provided with the sacred grass ring, one by one:

117.13.p1

'May those celestial waters that arose with milk, those of the intermediate realm, / and those of the earth, golden-coloured, worthy of sacrifice—may those waters be auspicious, gentle, and easily invoked for us.'

117.13_2

'O All-gods, this is your water offering, svāhā! And O father, this is yours!'

117.14

Downwards in this manner from the grandfather and others, he should perform it from the dripping in the first [vessel]; / saying, 'You are the resting place for the ancestors,' he turns the vessel upside down below.

117.15

Here [is] the giving of fragrance, flowers, incense, light, and covering; / having taken up food smeared with clarified butter, he asks: 'I shall perform [it] in the fire.'

117.16

Permitted with 'Perform it!', one who maintains a sacred fire should sacrifice in the fire; / one without a sacred fire [should sacrifice] into the hand of the ancestor [priest] with the sacred grass ring, using the mantra.

117.17

'To Agni, conveyor of the kavyas, svāhā!' is the first oblation; / then 'To Soma accompanied by the ancestors,' and the next 'To Yama, descendant of Aṅgiras.'

117.18

Having placed the remainder of the oblation into the food vessel, he should touch the vessel:

117.18.p1

'The earth is your vessel, heaven is the cover; in the mouth of the brāhmaṇa, into the nectar, I offer nectar, svāhā!'—thus.

117.18_2

Having recited this, saying 'Viṣṇu', he should place the thumb of the brāhmaṇa into the food.

117.19

Saying 'Destroyed [are the asuras]' and scattering sesame seeds, he should cause the food to be served; / and having said 'Enjoy it!', he should then recite the Gāyatrī and other verses.

117.19.p1

[Footnote]

117.19.p2

1. The passage beginning with "ekaikasya" up to "prathame caret" is missing in manuscript jha.

117.19.p3

2. "anagniko jale caiva" thus in manuscript ṅa. / 3. "svadhā" thus in manuscript ka.

117.20

'To the deities, to the ancestors, and to the great yogins, / homage to svadhā, to svāhā, homage, homage forever!'

117.21

Knowing them to be satisfied, he should scatter food and offer water once and again; / having recited the Gāyatrī as before, he should indeed recite 'madhu madhu'.

117.22

He should ask, 'Are you satisfied?'; [the guest] should say, 'We are satisfied.' / Having asked permission regarding the remaining food, [gathering] all the food together in one place,

117.23

and having taken it up near the remnants and performed the cleansing with water, / he should place three funeral cakes on kuśa grass; others have declared [this should be done] when they have sipped water.

117.24

When they have sipped water, he should give water, flowers, and unbroken grains; / then [giving] the imperishable water, a man should request blessings:

117.25

'May our ancestors be benign; may our lineage ever flourish! / May our givers increase, as well as the Vedas and our progeny!

117.26

And may faith not depart from us, and may there be much for us to give! / May we have abundant food, and may we receive guests!

117.27

May we have supplicants, and may we never beg from anyone!' / Having spread the kuśa grass for the svadhā-recitation along with sacred grass rings,

117.28

he should ask, 'I shall cause the svadhā to be recited,' and being permitted, 'Let it be recited,' / for the ancestors, grandfathers, and primarily the great-grandfathers:

117.29

'Let svadhā be uttered! May there be svadhā!' and likewise while it is being uttered, / he should sprinkle water; and having turned the vessel upwards, [he gives] the sacrificial fee.

117.29.p1

[Footnote]

117.29.p2

1. "svāhāyai nityameva bhavantu" thus in manuscripts kha and cha.

117.29.p3

2. "prārthayettataḥ" thus in manuscripts gha, ja, and jha.

117.29.p4

3. The reading beginning with "aghorāḥ pitaraḥ" up to "āstīrya sapavitrakān" is absent in the two manuscripts kha and cha.

117.30

And he should give [gifts] according to his means, and have [the blessings] recited regarding the deities and the ancestors: / 'May the Viśvedevas be pleased,' and he should dismiss [them] with the [verse] beginning with 'Vāje'.

117.31

Having accompanied [them] with 'Ā mā vājasya,' and circumambulated the brāhmaṇas clockwise, / he should enter the house; he should perform [this] in the same manner month by month on the new moon day.

117.32

I shall explain the ancestral rite for a single deceased person (ekoddiṣṭa); he should perform it as before: / he should offer one blade of sacred grass, one [half-measure of water], and one funeral cake.

117.33

Here there is neither invocation nor offering into the fire, nor indeed the Viśvedevas. / At the inquiry of satisfaction, the twice-born should say 'svaditam' ('it is well relished'), [not] 'sukhaditam'.

117.34

[He says] 'May it remain' for imperishability, and at dismissal, 'Be delighted'; / others [reply], 'We are delighted.' He should perform the remainder as before.

117.35

I shall explain the rite of sapīṇḍīkaraṇa, [performed] at the end of a year or even in the middle [of it]: / [there are] three vessels for the ancestors and one vessel for the deceased.

117.36

The four [vessels], supplied with blades of sacred grass and containing sesame seeds and flowers, / filled and mixed with fragrant water, he sprinkles.

117.37

[Pouring] the vessel of the deceased into the vessels of the ancestors with the two [mantras] 'Ye samānāḥ,' / the offering of funeral cakes and the rest [is done] as before; the state of being an ancestor ensues for the deceased.

117.38

Now I shall explain the ancestral rite for prosperity (ābhyudayika); everything is as before, / [but] he should recite omitting the mantras to the ancestors, in the forenoon, circumambulating clockwise.

117.39

The articles of worship [are offered with] straight kuśa grass, and here barley grains replace sesame seeds. / As for the inquiry of satisfaction, the twice-born should say: 'It is accomplished,' [and] 'It is well accomplished.'

117.39.p1

[Footnote]

117.39.p2

[Apparatus note:] 1 'gandhodakena siktāni' in ja.

117.39.p3

[Apparatus note:] 2 The text from 'athābhyudayikaṃ' up to 'yavair iha' is missing in manuscript jha.

117.40

The funeral cakes, consisting of curd, unbroken rice, jujube fruits, and the like, are for the cheerful-faced ancestors (nāndīmukhas). / He should ask: 'Shall I invoke [them]?' and at [the wish for] imperishability, 'May they be pleased.'

117.41

Then he asks, “I shall make the cheerful-faced ancestors pronounce [blessings]”; / he should then say, “May the host of cheerful-faced ancestors be pleased.”

117.42

And the cheerful-faced ancestors are the father, his father, and the great-grandfather, / the maternal grandfather, the maternal great-grandfather, and the father of the maternal great-grandfather.

117.43

One should not employ the svadhā-utterance, and one should feed an even number of Brahmins. / And I shall state the satisfaction of the ancestors with cultivated grains,

117.44

as well as a month's satisfaction with wild roots, tubers, and fruits; / two months with fish; three with venison and bird-meat;

117.45

four with ruru-deer meat; five and six with goat meat; / seven with tortoise; eight and indeed nine with boar meat;

117.46

ten with sheep meat; and [similarly] with buffalo, spotted deer, and benevolent [offerings]; / and a full year with cow's milk or with milk-rice pudding.

117.47

The satisfaction lasts twelve years with the meat of an old long-eared goat; / rhinoceros meat, black mustard greens, a red goat, honey,

117.48

and large-scaled fish during the rainy season; and an ancestral rite under the Maghā asterism brings inexhaustible [merit]. / A reciter of mantras, an agnihotrin, a reciter of a Vedic recension, and one who knows the six ancillary sciences,

117.49

one versed in the Triṇāciketa ritual, one knowing the Trimadhu hymns, a reader of the Dharmadroṇa, / and one who knows the Triṣuparṇa and the Jyeṣṭhasāman hymns are sanctifiers of the assembly.

117.49.p1

[Footnotes]

117.49.p2

1 dadhyakṣatavadaryādyāḥ in manuscripts ga and cha.

117.49.p3

2 tathā vanyaiḥ in manuscripts kha and ṅa.

117.49.p4

3 vatsaraṃ rauraveṇātha in manuscript gha.

117.49.p5

4 pañcakaṃ chāgastena tu in manuscript ṅa.

117.49.p6

5 lohitacchāgakaḥ in manuscripts ga, gha, and ṅa.

117.49.p7

6 maghāśrāddhamihākṣayam in manuscript jha.

117.49.p8

7 jaladroṇasya in manuscript jha.

117.50

I shall describe the procedure for optional rites: on the first lunar day, abundant wealth; / on the second lunar day, excellent women; on the fourth, [it] grants virtue and desires;

117.51

on the fifth, one desiring sons; on the sixth, one attains pre-eminence; / on the seventh, one attains agricultural success; on the eighth, one gains wealth;

117.52

on the ninth, one-hoofed animals; on the tenth, there will be herds of cattle; / on the eleventh, an entourage; on the twelfth, wealth and grain;

117.53

on the thirteenth, pre-eminence among kin; and on the fourteenth, for those killed by weapons; / an ancestral rite on the new moon day is proclaimed to grant all desires.

117.54

“The seven hunters in the Daśāraṇya forest, the deer on Mount Kālañjara, / the cakravāka birds on the island of Śara, the swans in Lake Mānasa—

117.55

even they were born in Kurukṣetra as Brahmins who had crossed to the end of the Vedas. / Having set out upon the distant path, do not despond before them.”

117.56

When this is recited at the beginning of an ancestral rite, the rite becomes complete and bestows the world of Brahmā. / And a son or other descendant should perform an ancestral rite for the father, [or] when he is living, for his father;

117.57

he should perform it for that one's father, and for his father when the great-grandfather is living; / or for the father, the grandfather, and the one beyond the great-grandfather.

117.57.p1

[Footnotes]

117.57.p2

1 kālamākhyāsye in manuscript jha.

117.57.p3

2 śreṣṭhabhāgyapi in manuscripts kha, ga, ṅa, and cha; jyeṣṭhabhāgapi in manuscript gha.

117.57.p4

3 navamyāṃ vai śaphapatiḥ in manuscript ja.

117.57.p5

4 caturdaśyāñca śāstrataḥ in manuscripts kha and gha.

117.57.p6

5 mṛtānāṃ śrāddhaṃ sarvāptiramāvāsyā samīritā in manuscript ka.

117.57.p7

6 daśārṇeṣu in manuscripts kha, ga, ṅa, and cha.

117.57.p8

7 te 'bhijātāḥ in manuscripts kha and gha.

117.57.p9

8 kuryāt suputro 'pi in manuscript cha.

117.57.p10

9 The text from tatpituḥ up to prapitāmahāt is not in manuscript jha.

117.58

Likewise for the mother and others, as well as for the maternal grandfather and others. / Whoever recites this procedure of the ancestral rite obtains the fruit of one who performs the ancestral rite.

117.59

An ancestral rite offered at a sacred ford, at the beginning of a Yuga, or at the beginning of a Manvantara is inexhaustible; / likewise on the bright ninth of Aśvina, and on the twelfth of Kārttika;

117.60

and on the third of Māgha, and likewise of Bhādrapada; / the new moon of Phālguna, and the eleventh of Pauṣa;

117.61

the tenth of Āṣāḍha, the seventh of the month of Māgha, / the dark eighth in Śrāvaṇa, and the full moon in Āṣāḍha;

117.62

likewise the full moon of Kārttika, of Phālguna, and the bright fifteenth in Jyaiṣṭha. / These initial days of the Manus, beginning with Svāyambhuva, are indeed inexhaustible.